Denise Krepp

Private Consultant, Professor

K. Denise Rucker Krepp is a homeland security, transportation, and energy expert who began her career as an active duty Coast Guard officer in 1998. After September 11th, Ms. Krepp was part of the team that created the Transportation Security Administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

On Veterans Day, we will join together as a country to thank the men and women who have and are serving our country in uniform. Dr. Olivia Hooker is one of the veterans that we will thank, and her story is one of exceptional courage and determination.
Dr. Hooker served on active duty as a yeoman from March 1945 to June 1946. She was the first of only five African American women to serve in the Coast Guard during World War...

Not all agencies share the U.S. Maritime Administration's mission to promote the nation's maritime industry. Three of the largest federal departments have long resisted MARAD's efforts to enforce cargo preference rules, which require federally-financed cargoes to be carried aboard U.S.-flag ships - and without public support, this situation could easily continue.
When I became MARAD's chief counsel in 2009, I was asked to lead the team responsible for drafting rules that would penalize other federal agencies for not complying with...

The Maritime Executive recently published an essay about the Revenue Cutter Service operations during the Civil War. The service is an ancestor agency of today’s Coast Guard, and like other American institutions, it was split apart by the conflict. Some RCS vessels served the Union, while others stationed in the South were handed over to the seceding states. This split didn’t happen overnight: it was precipitated by actions taken by a former Secretary of the Treasury.
The story starts...

On July 7, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke announced the recipients of the 2016 Maritime Heritage Grants. Twenty-seven entities located in thirteen states were awarded $1.7 million in grant funding.
Recipients include the Naval Historical Foundation, which will use the grant dollars to digitize documents related to the American Revolution. Primary source documents regarding leading naval heroes like John Paul Jones will be at your finger tips. Curious about the Battle of Valcour Island? You won’t have to leave...

Ask someone in the United States what happens to ocean-going ships at the end of their service life and they’ll likely describe National Geographic pictures of ships on beaches in some foreign country, with sandal-clad workers using hammers and cutting torches to take them apart. However, these recycling methods are destined to become a relic of the past. The future will be one where workers wear appropriate safety equipment. It will also be one where ships are not simply driven onto a beach....

In less than a month, Donald Trump will become President of the United States, Elaine Chao will replace Anthony Foxx at the Department of Transportation and General Mattis will stride through the Pentagon corridors as Secretary of Defense. As a former Obama administration political appointee, it's my hope that the three of them rapidly reverse a shameful eight-year policy that has allowed vessels named after Medal of Honor recipients to be destroyed in foreign facilities.
Like most of you, I...

Last week, I shared with readers that the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the agency that auctions off obsolete government vessels, does not track the international wires used to pay for them, a requirement of federal law. The Department of the Treasury is the agency that collects the money, and we've recently learned that they don't examine the source of this foreign funding either.
On February 18, 2016, Jon Ottman, a maritime historian, submitted a Freedom of Information Act request...

Last week, Maersk announced that it will be working with shipyards in Alang, India, to create responsible recycling programs. I'm disappointed that Maersk vessels will be dismantled in India instead of the United States. At that same time, however, I'm impressed with Maersk's clear ship recycling policy and its plan to implement it. This clarity is something that is sorely lacking in the United States and it's my hope that the U.S. Maritime Administration takes a page from Maersk's playbook....

It's amazing what a person can discover if one is willing to submit a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and wait two years for the federal government to respond. Treasures include General Services Administration (GSA) employees admitting to withholding environmentally sensitive information from buyers of government property. You can also find U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) employees failing to comply with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards. The transgressions are so plentiful that one is...

Unravelling what happened to the former Coast Guard Cutter STORIS has been time-consuming process. Jon Ottman, who successfully nominated the vessel for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, first started submitting Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests two years ago. He still hasn't received information from several agencies and their lack of response raises significant questions about the government's willingness to expose - or learn from - its glaring mistakes.
Heather Bischoff, a General Services...